Surf is expected to peak this afternoon, waves up to 25 feet. Of course theres a risk of rip currents. That High Surf Advisory is going until 8 00 p. M. Tonight. As you take a look at the live doppler 7 hd we have been tracking light showers around ukiah and as you look to the north, northwestern california has been getting dumped on. Crescent city, last 24 hours, almost three inches of rain. That rain is working its way down towards the bay area and it is going to make for a rough morning commute. Ill be back with the details in a few minutes. We obviously need the rain. Californias drought is drying up wells, parching fields, allowing mountains to rise. It is reducing reservoirs to Dangerous Levels and leaving much of the state under extreme conditions as you know. But finally, as sandhya said, a real amount of rain is on the way. It wont end the drought but it wont hurt, either. Abc 7 News ReporterLaura Anthony is live in the east bay tonight. Every drop counts, laura. Reporter it sure does, dan. It is just starting to cloud up here in albany although we have had the sun poking through every so often. This is what it looked like a short time ago in emeryville along the shoreline with the clouds moving in and the winds picking up. It definitely looks like a weather system is on its way. But so far, no raindrops. Water officials here in the east bay say its a good start but a long way from any real relief from the drought. We certainly are happy to see that the rainy season is upon us. But we do need it to rain in our watershed and we need it to rain where the reservoirs are at. Reporter do you worry people might get the perception the rainy season has started so im going to stop conserving . If people have been in california for about two days, maybe they would think that. But anybody who has been in california longer than that, they would know we are in big trouble. Reporter the only thing that this initial rain might allow for is for people to turn off their sprinklers, maybe not water at all for a week or so. Beyond that, theres no great relief expected. In fact, water agencies are as busy as ever preparing for drought restrictions or further drought restrictions if it doesnt rain much or at all in november and december. In albany, Laura Anthony, abc 7 news. Laura, thank you. Two people who are on board a single engine plane that crashed into a Sonoma County vineyard have been hospitalized. The faa tells abc 7 news the experimental plane went down about 2 15 this afternoon. About six miles southeast of the santa rosa airport. Sky 7 hd shows us the wreckage. The faa says the plane struck a set of power lines before going down. A man on board was airlifted to the hospital. A female victim was taken to hospital in napa in an ambulance because of that crash. Firefighters face a number of challenges while battling an Apartment Fire today in san jose. Crews could not enter the building near San Jose City college because of downed power lines. Firefighters evacuated the building and homes on two blocks because of a fear that more live wires might fall. One firefighter was injured by falling roof tiles. No word yet on exactly how it started. A gigantic tree toppled across vallejo street in the north beach area this afternoon. Look at the scene. The tree fell near columbus street directly in front of the original cafe triste coffee house. It pulverized a car parked underneath, just crushed by this huge tree. The street is still closed. Public works crews will cut up that tree and haul it away. San franciscos mayor is meeting at this hour with the heads of San Francisco firefighters unions who are asking him to fire the fire chief, joanne hayeswhite. Carolyn tyler joins us from city hall with news on this developing situation. Carolyn . Reporter that sitdown is taking place right now up there on the second floor. The fire chief says she did not meet with the mayor today but is confident he has her back as she struggles to hang on to her job. The heads of every Employee Group in the San FranciscoFire Department ranging from the black firefighters, the asian, women and gay firefighters, waltzed into San Francisco mayor ed lees office late this afternoon. They were delivering a letter they unanimously agreed to earlier this week, citing a grave crisis of confidence in the direction and leadership of the Current Administration under chief joanne hayeswhite. We want to serve the public to the best of our ability and we feel we are not able to do that right now. Reporter Union Leaders say the department is failing to meet its most basic mission of public safety, citing a shortage of ambulances and long wait times for an emergency medical response. But the chief says progress is being made, with the addition of 35 emts on the streets since august. We caught up with hayeswhite heading into a meeting dealing with that very issue. Weve got work to do and we want to continue to solve some of the issues that we have to deal with, rebuilding our department after having to make five years of consecutive reductions. Reporter she wrote a letter last night to her 1500 member department, saying quote, i have moved this deptford and saying the attempt to force her out is quote, an unfortunate distraction to the real issues. But if they are still resolute, how can you continue . As i have, with confidence, with the support of the mayors office. Reporter the ultimate fate of the fire chief lies in the hands of the fivemember fire commission. Under a legal opinion by the city attorneys office, the commission may remove the chief on its own. The mayor can recommend removal. And the commission would have 30 days to respond to that request. They have a regularly scheduled meeting tomorrow. In San Francisco, carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. Victory for surfers after a long battle over access to Martins Beach in san mateo county. Late this afternoon, a judge ruled in favor of the Surf Rider Foundation over Silicon Valley billionaire kosla. In the ruling, the judge said koslas failure to obtain a permit before blocking access to the beach was illegal. The judge says he must reopen the access road to the public until he can obtain a Coastal Development permit from the state. The group sued after he shut down the access road to Martins Beach after purchasing the property back in 2008. An east bay father says a young concord man might be alive today if police had taken action months ago. The suspect in the sunday morning murder was named in the Police Report for attacking a teenager earlier, but officers dropped the case. Abc 7 News ReporterLyanne Melendez joins us from concord where the father confronted police today. Lyanne . Reporter well, just before that stabbing incident, it appears that 18yearold dominic massoni assaulted another teen here in concord at a park about eight months ago. We want to show you a picture of gabriel lang. He was 16 at the time. His father told us he was suckerpunched and kicked in the face several times. There is the Police Report naming massoni as the person who attacked him. While the report was filed and several names of witnesses were given, police did not give it to the District Attorneys Office because gabriel lang did not want to testify. In the back of my mind i keep saying if charges were brought forward theres a possibility that kid could still be alive. It just hurts. You know, i cant stop now, i cant give it up. Reporter so today, ryan lang waited outside Police Headquarters to talk to an investigator to see if anything else could be done. The victim died yesterday at a hospital after being stabbed saturday night outside a party on virginia lane. Police arrested massoni and another man after witnesses gave a good description of their car. Now, both men are still in the county jail on murder charges. Police here in concord, we asked them about this incident, gabriels incident. They said they could not give us that information. Live in concord, Lyanne Melendez, abc 7 news. Lyanne, thank you. The city of oakland is getting more federal help in its effort to increase its police force. The city announced today that it received its fourth federal grant to hire more cops. The nearly 2 million will help cover the cost of 15 police officers. The chief credits additional officers for a reduction this year in Violent Crime in oakland. The Alameda CountySheriffs Office and city of san leandro received similar grants. Apples hotselling, phone quickly turns into buyer beware. Coming up, the Software Update that has apple wringing its hands and pulling the plug. Napa, then and now. The changes one month after that big quake. And dragons in the dungeon. The controversial art exhibit comes to the rock. Walmart is no longer just a supermarket with a doctors office. Its also your bank. At kaiser permanente, everything you need is under one roof. Another way care and coverage together makes life easier. Okay, a little easier. Become a member of kaiser permanente. Because together, we thrive. Today marks one month since the devastating 6. 0 earthquake struck the napa valley. Sadly, one person died. Dozens were injured and others lost everything. Four mobile homes caught fire not long after that quake and by the time the sun came up, three homes were burned out. Sky 7 hd shows us those homes now. Take a look at this. Those were units gone, a fourth too damaged to live in was also removed. In downtown napa, part of the centuryold building collapsed into the street and part of a roof dangled over the corner. Take a look at it today. Let me show you this. A blue tarp covers the hole in the wall. That chunk of roof has been removed. Half of this building was redtagged meaning it is not safe to be inside. More than 200 buildings were redtagged after the quake. The city says today there are more than 160 red tags but 90 of the businesses are back open. The tower at the Napa County Airport is still empty. The force of the quake shattered the windows there. Today, take a look at this. It is still boarded up after all this time. Air Traffic Controllers now operate out of a trailer using twoway radios and binoculars to direct planes. But some things are back to normal. The same day of the quake, cal trans fixed a giant crack through highway 37 in American Canyon and today, take a look at this. Cars and trucks cruise over a giant scar in the earth, one of many reminders of the napa county quake. Still many reminders. A Domestic Violence refugee from honduras is being released to her mothers care after being held in a Detention Center for seven months. Immigration reform advocates and Catholic Church leaders prayed before todays hearing in San Francisco. They say Jenny Escobar was beaten so severely that she miscarried her twins. The same man then that beat her also threatened to kill her. Escobar and her sister were kidnapped by smugglers, then detained at the border. Her sister is still being held in texas. The first step is to make sure we are able to release her as well and bring her back to her mother, and then we will continue to litigate the asylum case for both of the sisters. The judge is releasing Jenny Escobar in part because she has epilepsy and her mother can care for her. Her mother is a legal resident in San Francisco and an active member of the Catholic Church. Alcatraz is undergoing a big change. The former prison which was home to Machine Gun Kelly and al capone is now hosting what many say is the most anticipated contemporary art show of the year. Its also controversial. Abc 7 News ReporterAlyssa Harrington has the story. Reporter ai weiwei might be chinas most well known dissident. Arrested in 2011 for tax evasion, ai weiweis passport was confiscated. He cannot leave the country but is making his voice heard around the world through his activism and art. Alcatraz, once known as one of the worlds most notorious prisons, is now doubling as a gallery for seven of his pieces. The exhibit is called at large, ai weiwei on alcatraz. This is an amazing place. What incredible history this island has. Its a place of detainment. Its a place of protest. Reporter the curator traveled to china to help bring some of the pieces back. She says ai weiweis creations are meant to bring up questions about human rights. For example, the display with wind includes a giant Rainbow Paper dragon kite. The dragon and kites represent power and freedom but they are displayed in a building that was used for prison labor. If one person who comes to this exhibition walks away with a better understanding of what freedom really means, this project will then be a great success. Reporter another work is made entirely of legos. More than one million pieces forming the faces of prisoners, many detained for political reasons. The artist also plays with sound. Visitors can listen to music or poetry by prisoners echoing from cell walls. Only visitors who buy a ticket to alcatraz can see the exhibit for no extra charge while on the island. It runs from this saturday through april of next year. In San Francisco, Alyssa Harrington, abc 7 news. Apple is running into problems with its new operating system for iphones. Maybe you experienced this. It pulled an update to its ios 8. 1 operating system today after some people with a new iphone 6 reported problems. Users say their phones couldnt make calls or connect to their Cellular Network after they installed the update. Thats a big problem. And some people with a larger iphone 6 plus have found another design issue. It bends. Abc 7 News ReporterJonathan Bloom will have more on this potential problem brewing in the pockets of iphone users tonight at 6 00. We are hearing more and more about sexual assaults on female students on college campuses. Now women and men can protect themselves with something they probably carry anyway. Thats a cell phone. 7 on your sides Michael Finney is here with that story. There is an app for this. There are several, in fact, that call for help in case of an attack. This circle of six app sends an alert with one touch of the screen. It also gives your exact location. Another option is called be safe. What be safe does it turn your phone into a recording device so if youre in an emergency it gets the face and the sound of whats happening. Be safe also alerts all your Emergency Contacts that you are in danger and it also sounds an alarm. Air fare trackers say it will cost more to fly home for thanksgiving this year, perhaps a lot more. But there are some ways to save. Fair compare. Com says if you havent bought your ticket, do it now, like tonight. Prices are going to go up, way up in october. The cheapest flights are on thanksgiving day itself. You will find midrange fares on the saturday before and after thanksgiving. The most expensive, well, those flights will be on tuesday and wednesday before thanksgiving. Retail giant walmart has been trying to get into the banking business for years now and today announced another financial product. The retailer will soon offer checking accounts along with its prepaid and debit accounts. There will be no minimum balances, overdraft charges or monthly fees as long as customers have direct deposit of at least 500 a month. Now, thats a fabulous deal and its all geared to the low income earners who are now unbanked. Most use Check Cashing and other high priced financial services. It saves more money, too. A ton of money. The safety apps are remarkable. I love that idea. Isnt that a good idea . Thank you. Well, as we said here earlier, some rain is actually about to arrive in the bay area. Meteorologist sandhya patel outside now. Still dry for now. Yeah, still dry, but it is mild and muggy out here. Not dry for long. You are going to be reaching for the umbrellas very soon. Lets check out live doppler 7 hd. I will tell you what, hang on to the umbrellas for thursday and friday. You are going to need them off and on as you take a look at live doppler 7 hd. Some of the lighter returns have been up around point arena, ukiah area. Not a whole lot of rain. The heaviest of the rain has been up to our north around crescent city, garberville area. We are expecting heavy returns as far as the rainfall is concerned in the northern portion of the state where a Flash Flood Watch is going in the burn areas until tomorrow morning at 5 00. Ironically, there is a red flag warning still in effect until 11 00 p. M. Tonight. Hopefully that will get dropped very soon as the moisture starts to shift eastward. You can see just a dreary sky, temperatures 71 in San Francisco. In the mid 70s right now san jose, oakland, 66 half moon bay. Temperatures have ranged from the low 70s to mid 80s. V